Brady facing 3 challengers in primary

Calling himself a proven conservative with proven leadership, U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands, believes he’s the best candidate to represent District 8 in Congress.

Brady, 53, faces three challengers in the 2010 Republican primary to keep his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives for District 8, which includes Montgomery, Walker, San Jacinto, Polk, Tyler, Jasper, Hardin, Newton and Orange counties, as well as portions of Trinity and Liberty counties.

Challengers are pro audiovisual systems designer Scott Baker, 34, of Willis, journalist Melecio Franco, 31, of Kingwood, and senior project engineer Tyler Russell, 28, of The Woodlands. If elected, it would be Brady’s eighth term in Congress.

“I’m running because America is headed the wrong direction fast; and if we’re going to get it back on the right track, we need the strongest, most qualified leaders going toe to toe every day with (Speaker of the House) Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., (House Financial Services Committee chairman) U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., and Tim Geithner (Secretary of the Treasury),” Brady said.

His opponents have criticized Brady for voting for bailouts. Brady said he has a strong record of fighting bailouts.

“I voted for the first (Troubled Asset Relief Program) to stop the financial panic from spending here at home; but because they, Washington, never used those dollars the way they said, I voted to block the second half of the TARP and voted against Cash For Clunkers, the auto bailout, the housing bailouts, the stimulus package and the second stimulus program,” Brady said.

Saying he has nothing against his opponents, Brady recommended they run for a local office before focusing on Washington, D.C.

“If you send a rookie to Washington, Nancy Pelosi and her gang will chew them up and spit them out,” he said.

Brady’s focus is on the economy, health care, cap and trade, the War on Terror and balancing the federal budget without increasing taxes. He introduced the Spending Reform Act to put a cap on the federal budget and force Congress to deal with solvency, Social Security and Medicare, he said.

Serving on the Ways and Means Committee, Brady is also the lead House Republican on the Trade Subcommittee and the Joint Economic Committee, and a member of the Social Security Subcommittee, according to www.house.gov/brady. He was tapped as the national Republican to respond to President Barack Obama’s weekly radio address.

“You don’t become a leader overnight and without earning a lot of respect along the way,” Brady said.

Prior to Congress, Brady was a chamber executive member for 18 years and was with the South Montgomery County The Woodlands Chamber of Commerce for 11 years. He also served three terms in the Texas House of Representatives.

“Every day, I wake up determined to stop this health care takeover and send it back to the drawing board, to stop cap and trade and end this dangerous level of debt and spending,” Brady said. “… My goal is to create the strongest economy in the world for America; and while it won’t happen overnight, I am going to continue to work to tear this awful tax code up by the roots and replace it with a simple sales tax.”